One newer database system got installed with Debian Wheezy, which makes ruby
1.9 the default, and dammit, it makes it rather difficult to convince it that
I want to run ruby 1.8, which my application has been written in.

So I'm going to upgrade the application to ruby 1.9, it's about time to do
so. But given all the co-existence code between 1.8 and 1.9, how to do this
has been a bit vexing.

LVM now supports mirroring inside of LVM, rather than requiring that you put
mirrors underneath LVM physical volumnes. This provides much more
flexibility, and some volumnes can be mirrored, some not (such as swap
partitions), and different RAID algorithms can be used. LVM uses the same
underlying mechanisms as Linux RAID system (mdadm) to do the RAID operations,
so there is no change in overall performance.

Lucas and I learnt on the Hydra project that creating a mirror as
follows:

lvconvert -m 1 --corelog /dev/nv0/time1root

or at lvcreate time:

lvcreate -L 4G --name time1root -m 1 --corelog --nosync /dev/nv0

while it works, produces a mirror that keeps certain meta-info in memory
only. Should the machine reboot in an uncontrolled way, the mirror will
be marked as bad and rebuilt in order to validate the meta-data.

On a machine with with VMs running (nvxen-0, crtlXX) after a reboot it can
take hours for the mirror to rebuild. The correct answer it turns out is to
use --mirrorlog mirrored, and an option to put the mirror logs anywhere.

lvconvert -m 1 --mirrorlog mirrored --alloc anywhere /dev/nv0/time1root
The allocation policy of "anywhere" permits the two 4M mirror logs (4M is the
minimum allocation that LVM can do) to be kept on the same disks as the data
they are mirroring. Otherwise, if you have only two physical volumnes, you
can not put the log anywhere and the default policy (which I think is wrong)
is to insist that the mirrorlogs go on different volumnes than the data.
(I don't know why this necessary)

Converting between is a pain: the only way I found to do this is to remove
the mirroring and then re-create it.

I wrote a script to process the output of lvs and do this. The ionice keeps
the process in the background, not chewing up I/O.

On the fresh boot after the crash however, you may find your system is
almost completely unresponsive as it tries to resync dozens of mirrors. On
that, /dev/md0-style raid devices get it right. How to fix: find the kcopyd
kernel processes and run ionice on them:

once you have done this, you can then get in long enough to run the
lvconvert. I suggest you remove all the mirrors first (-m 0) as that stops
the resync operation from getting in the way of the resync you will have to
anyway.

so, it evaluates code, and there are in fact one block passed to another
block, and it seems really hard (a major ruby-debug limitation), that I can
not put a breakpoint easily into the beginning of a block passed in.

I had to resort to editing that file, and sticking "debugger" in there!

Here is a nice use for a distributed hash table, backed by the new IETF
REPUTE work.

I just typed "antipope.net" rather than antipope.org to get to Charlies
Stross' web site. A squatter offered to sell me the domain. Some of the
squatters do it solely for ad revenue, and I'd rather not arrange for
them to get a dime.

I want a button for my browser (Chromium) which logs that name into a
reputation database indicating that these guys are squatters, and letting me
(once I know the correct name) enter the proper name.
The same plugin will consult that database if I type something wrong, and
suggest an alternative.

I've had a problem getting Eclipse, and specifically the Android SDK to run
on my Debian laptop for over a year now. I've generally just VNC'ed to a
more powerful box and ran it there.

The problem I had was that most network operations in eclipse would fail with
network unreachable. Not a big deal for day to day things, but you need the
network to install the Android SDK kits and install Eclipse plugins.

I had been trying to strace things to figure out what it was, and finally
found it:

I've had a problem getting Eclipse, and specifically the Android SDK to run
on my Debian laptop for over a year now. I've generally just VNC'ed to a
more powerful box and ran it there.

The problem I had was that most network operations in eclipse would fail with
network unreachable. Not a big deal for day to day things, but you need the
network to install the Android SDK kits and install Eclipse plugins.

I had been trying to strace things to figure out what it was, and finally
found it:

In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2009-329, the Commission set out the
results of its review of broadcasting in new media. This was followed by
Broadcasting Order 2009-660, which amended, clarified and affirmed the
continued appropriateness of the New Media Exemption Order applied to
new media broadcasting undertakings. Since then, there has been an
acceleration of technological, market and consumer behaviour trends that
may influence the Canadian broadcasting system's ability to achieve
the policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act. Increasingly, programming
is being provided by entities on multiple platforms and separate from
the physical infrastructure over which it is delivered. These
"over-the-top" entities are both foreign and domestic.

1. My name is Michael Richardson. I am chief scientist of Sandelman Software
Works. I am writing today about your consultation about "Over-The-Top"
television, such as "netflix" and others like this. I am a pioneer of the
Internet, my use of it dates back to 1987. I am active participant in the
Internet Engineering Task Force, and I've authored a number of RFCs in the
security field.

2. I find the entire question about "over-the-top" to itself be indicative
of a bias to begin with. My question was, over top of what? I get as much
television "over" Canada Post as I do "over-the-air".

3. The Internet does not run on top of other things, more and more, other
things run on top of the Internet. Neither incumbent cable or telephone
companies have been competent enough to supply my home office for internet.
My family that has tried them for Internet has found their service to be
lacking, and have gone to reliable Internet suppliers, ones that are not
vertically integrated and therefore do not have a bias against other things.

4. Since 1995, I have not subscribed to "cable" TV. I tried microwave
(LOOK), but when I moved it was not available, and then I went to satellite
(Star Choice, now Shaw). Since it became Shaw, my level of service has
steadily declined, while my rates have gone up. My family uses the satellite
TV less and less (we are now on the lowest tier subscription, primary for US
Network channels) and relies on DVD delivery from ZIP and netflix over my
bridged-DSL connection with Storm Internet.

5. Netflix has reported "problems" with Canadian residential internet
connections. I have none. I do not use an incumbent telco with a competing
service as my supplier. Please connect the dots.

6. I do not use "HD" services at this time, as I have no TVs like that.
I consider current HD TV systems to be too inflexible and yet too complicated
for my use. When the time comes, I will replace the "screens" in my home
with dumb computer-grade displays, connected to media boxes running open
standard systems.

7. The available content on Netflix leaves a lot to be desired. The amount
in Canada, I'm told is much less than in the US due to licensing problems.
This upsets me greatly: I would like to see a mandatory licensing regime
that seperated who I choose to deliver the content I want, from what content
is available.

8. Netflix offers a service that apparently permits some Apple and some
Microsoft users to watch television their computers. This system uses a
proprietary copyright infringing system to display the content. I say that
it infringes the copyright laws because it appears that this "Digital Rights
Management" system in fact denies me rights that I would have on other
systems. This system is incompatible with non-Microsoft systems (tied
selling) such as Ubuntu Linux that runs at my house.

9. We happen to have a Nintendo WII game console that has a netflix system
for it, and I'm told that the Netflix application for it may also contain
DRM. However, the output of my WII is a DRM-free analogue signal, and
therefore my rights are identical with this system as they would be with
broadcast television.

10. I am preparing myself for ATSC. I intend to put an antenna on my roof to
receive US Network Channels from Rochester NY, and along with an ATSC tuner
on each of my three TVs, I should be able to get Ottawa broadcast channels
from Camp Fortune. At that point I will stop subscribing to satellite
service: they have provided me with essentially no value.

11. At this point, what I would like is the ability to pay for the content
that I want. I would like to be able to vote with my wallet, rather than
have the CRTC tell me. I expect some service (such as Netflix, or a
competitor) to offer to intermediate my transactions, reducing the cost of
the transaction, and dealing the production studios directly.

12. I would like to:

a) provide a tip of approximately 0.25 for a show that I like. This
would be voluntary by me. I would do this because I want them to
produce more like it. I want to do this even for shows that might
have been out of "print" for a long time, for instance Threes Company,
or old episodes of Sesame Street, which continue to have significant
value. Right now, at most, I can provide a "star" rating.

b) provide a bond (a promise) that I would tip for more episodes of
a series that I like. This removes the role of the executives of
i) the incument cable/satellite companies, ii) the specialty channels.
who it seems continue to be reluctant to take risks, and have
significantly disrupted shows with significant fan bases with very
good writing. If this scares these companies, tough.
The CRTC has no mandate to protect companies with out-dated business
plans.

c) provide a tip to a "network" such as CBCKids who might provide me with
a playlist of shows to watch and timely interactive ways to engage
kids. Note I would be tipping for the playlist (a list of
recommendations) not for the shows themselves.

13. This is particularly important to me for children's shows, as I will
only let me child watch the TV stations that do not feature advertising.

I have an application that talks to Redmine/Chiliproject using its API with
results in JSON. I use ActiveResource to make these calls, and it suddendly
started failing after an upgrade from redmine to chiliproject:

The fact that I was getting an error from ActiveRecord and not
ActiveResource was puzzling. My ActiveResource class was called ProjectResource.
The thing that I was retrieving was a "project", and yes, I happened to have
a model called "Project", which was a subclass of ActiveRecord.

and this finds and returns the "Project" class which is in my model.
My model does not have a field created_on, thus the error.

So there three problems with this behaviour:

additions to the API should not break my old code, I should just ignore them.

there is no guarantee that the class that was found, "Project" has any of the behaviour that I need in the thing returned from ActiveResource.

worst, since the word "project" came from the remote system, the remote system could pick any class it wanted and invoke code on it. It's a reverse attack by a server on a client, but it's wrong to assume that the server is fully trusted by the client.

I'm not sure what the easiest way to fix this, but it's certainly wrong, and it's been there awhile in ActiveResource.

Then, if you need to have a conference call with employees number 4, 6 and 9,
then you need to dial their product. Primes are
1,2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,.. 4+2 = 6th prime is 11, 6+2=8th prime is 17,
and 9+2=11th prime is 29. So dial 11*17*29 = 5423.

All multiples of your extension are yours to do anything you want with, and
since the multiples times powers of 2 are never conference bridges, you have
a lot of bits you can use to encode useful things. Want to call me and avoid
ringing me? Okay, set bit number 2. Want to call me and never go to voice
mail? Okay, set bit number 3... etc.

by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions
beyond the Seas
Queen, Defender of the Faith,
Duchess of Edinburgh,
Countess of Merioneth,
Baroness Greenwich,
Duke of Lancaster,
Lord of Mann,
Duke of Normandy,
Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Garter,
Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath,
Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle,
Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick,
Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George,
Sovereign of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire,
Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order,
Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order,
Sovereign of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India,
Sovereign of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire,
Sovereign of the Order of British India,
Sovereign of the Indian Order of Merit,
Sovereign of the Order of Burma,
Sovereign of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert,
Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King Edward VII,
Sovereign of the Order of Merit,
Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour,
Sovereign of the Royal Victorian Order,
Sovereign of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem

On this, Our Birthday, where I turn 40, and you are still more than twice my
age, and likely four times my wisdom, I wanted to share some thoughts I have
had over the last few years.

I am your direct subject, having been born in London, as as well as your
loyal subject in the "British Dominions beyond the Seas". I'm actually a fan
of having a monarch, which is rather unpopular these days. I even met Your
Highness once when you visited Fredericton, but I actually too little to know
enough to be impressed.

First, congradulations on celebrating the marriage of your grandson. I know
that things will go well next week, and we look forward his visit to Ottawa
this summer.

I am sure that you have given a lot of thought to succession. I wondered if
you had considered that Prince William would very nice King. A very nice
Young King, one who could rally the youth of today, and bring a unity that
politicians yearn for, but have seldom delivered.

Does Prince Charles actually want to be King? Perhaps after a brief
Honeymoon, you and Prince Charles might consider abdicating in favour of
Prince William.

I suggest sometime in 2012, maybe Feb. 29 would auspicious, or maybe April
21, 2012. I don't know: I am sure you will come up with something sensible.